Line art

<h2 id="techniques">Techniques</h2>

<p>Line art emphasizes <a href="/facts/Art/ILbnQHHb">form</a> and <a href="/facts/Outline_drawing/DA7GfHNW">drawings</a>, of several (few) constant widths (as in <a href="/facts/Technical_illustration/CRGq9ra8">technical illustrations</a>), or of freely varying widths (as in brush work or <a href="/facts/Engraving/0hCX4flU">engraving</a>). Line art may tend towards <a href="/facts/Realism_(arts)/qn1xtzkf">realism</a> (as in much of <a href="/facts/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9/ey43zeK2">Gustave Doré</a>'s work), or it may be a <a href="/facts/Caricature/8XuHUNlp">caricature</a>, <a href="/facts/Cartoon/24v34f3m">cartoon</a>, <a href="/facts/Ideograph/7NvclbIG">ideograph</a>, or <a href="/facts/Glyph/A7Gesbxj">glyph</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="form">Form</h2>
<p>One of the most fundamental elements of art is the line. An important feature of a line is that it indicates the edge of a two-dimensional (flat) shape or a three-dimensional form.  A shape can be indicated by means of an outline, and a three-dimensional form can be indicated by <a href="/facts/Contour_lines/35Qten5r">contour lines</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>Before the development of <a href="/facts/Photography/ezLPT43M">photography</a> and of <a href="/facts/Halftone/HcLxHwrY">halftones</a>, line art was the standard format for <a href="/facts/Illustrations/dIDdBnUo">illustrations</a> to be used in <a href="/facts/Printing/ta4QpeDE">print</a> publications, using black <a href="/facts/Ink/Y7Wj0YQS">ink</a> on white paper. Using either <a href="/facts/Stippling/SJb08AWY">stippling</a> or <a href="/facts/Hatching/4kyt8NWr">hatching</a>, shades of gray could also be simulated.
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<h2 id="image-gallery">Image gallery</h2>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Lineography/4CAJlVnA">Lineography</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Old_master_print/7mTEMQVX">Old master print</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Screentone/LVrBgG6F">Screentone</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Hatching/4kyt8NWr">Hatching</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Stippling/SJb08AWY">Stippling</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Halftone/HcLxHwrY">Halftone</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ben-Day_dots/LTs3HMSq">Ben-Day dots</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<p> Media related to Line art at Wikimedia Commons
</p>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Sayre, Henry M. (2010). A World of Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0-205-88757-6. <a href="978-0-205-88757-6" target="_blank">978-0-205-88757-6</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Line art open-in-new

Line art